Okay y’all. Buckle up because this is gonna be a thread of my chronological experience at the PEACEFUL protests yesterday in LA.

I got there at ~3:00. This is the first confrontation with police I was a part of at 3:56. Edinburgh and 3rd, West Hollywood. This is when a police offer was practically pressing his weapon against a girls face up in the front.

Approaching the WeHo Sheriff’s Department. Armed officers on the roof awaiting us. There was a brief moment at the previous intersection where a group of the protesters were afraid to approach. We all ended up progressing peacefully.

4:55. The group was beginning to arrive and gather out the side of the WeHo Sheriff’s Dept. Allies were being called to move up to the front. For the record - some were too afraid, though I can’t really blame them.

5:00. Intersection of San Vicente and Santa Monica - right outside Roccos Weho. A successful moment of peaceful deescalation. Looking in the eye of some of these cops was unnerving. That was a feeling that did not change as the day progressed.

5:03. Police retreating into Sheriff’s Dept. Crowd begging the few people throwing water bottles not to.

5:04. Peaceful retreat of the police. Some of them were NOT happy about it. But things are looking good for us.

5:41. After peacefully marching all the way down Santa Monica, this is what we saw walking through Beverly Hills.
Note: the only people I saw actively vandalising were a white minority. Either way, I’m not concerned about the financial impact on these businesses. Gucci’s fine.

5:49. An altogether peaceful conflict with the BHPD. Listen to what the people on the front lines are saying. It’s important. We kept moving bc we were aware that if we stayed in one place for too long the Police would try to round us up.

6:44. We are on our way back towards WeHo. You can see the Beverly Center behind us. A couple minutes after I took this video this car barrelled through the front of the crowd - miraculously was not able to hit anyone. So if anyone who was there was looking for the plates -

6:56 pm. This video is actually 5 minutes. This is how the violence started. With the police. It was them.

This violence was started by the police. This is the truth. During this madness, the friend I was looking for watched a girl get shot in the face right next to her. #GeorgeFloydWasMurdered #BLACK_LIVES_MATTER

7:05. We all got notifications on our phones saying curfew was at 8. The officers would not let us advance so we could go home and adhere to curfew. Their violent reaction and unwillingness to let us go is why LA spent the night on fire. End of thread. https://twitter.com/thekathbean/status/1266949702127218688